NFL, Netflix Secure Partnership for Christmas Games

© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL and Netflix announced a three-season partnership where the streaming service will be the home for the two Christmas Day matchups in 2024. As part of the deal, the streaming service will have a minimum of one-holiday game during both the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

For Netflix, it marks a continuation of working with the NFL in recent years as the service brought the series "Quarterback" to fans in 2023 and will have the series "Receiver" air this summer. In that series, five of the premier pass catchers in the league—Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Amon-Ra St. Brown—are followed on and off the field through the 2023 season.

It also marks the next step in Netflix's continued efforts to enter the live TV market.

"There are no live annual events sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences NFL football attracts," said Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria in a news release. "We're so excited that the NFL's Christmas Day games will only be on Netflix."

For the NFL, the Netflix partnership allows the league to grow the game of football on a global scale.

"We couldn't be more excited to be the first professional sports league to partner with Netflix to bring live games to fans around the world," said Hans Schroeder, NFL Executive Vice President of Media Distribution. "The NFL on Christmas has become a tradition and to partner with Netflix, a service whose biggest day of the year is typically this holiday, is the perfect combination to grow this event globally for NFL fans."

The NFL has a long history with games over the Christmas holiday, first launching the Yuletide games in 1971 and bringing them back on a semi-regular basis in 1989. Since 2020, the holiday slate of games has been a staple of the programming slate.

Last season, the three games on Christmas ranked among the top 25 most-viewed in 2023. The Las Vegas Raiders versus Kansas City Chiefs matchup drew the highest Christmas Day viewership since 1988. The deal will allow for the games to air on broadcast TV in the competing team cities and be available on U.S. mobile devices with NFL+